I am just so grateful for all the excellent and fun projects I regularly get commissioned to design and build. This is one of the latest projects, an address sign here on Pender Island. The sign is a little bigger than some others I have done to accommodate the large embossed carving that is based on a broach of ancient Pictish design that the clients had. The name ‘Rosemarkie’ I believe is also of Scottish heritage, and this is what they have named their property.
I assembled the body of the sign first from salvaged old growth red cedar driftwood I split by hand. The main panel is 3 pieces of cedar glued together, each a slightly different tone of colour.
The pieces of the sign~ sign face sections, posts, and curved top piece
The middle piece I left thicker and proud so that I could carve the design and it would come out of the wood instead of carving in as I do with the lettering. All the joints are traditional mortise and tenon, glued with hardwood pegs. Once the body was complete and sanded, I used an art projector to shoot my design onto the sign. I then trace the design onto the wood, and can begin to carve. For this project I used a combination of hand chisels and a Foredom power carving tool (a professional, larger version of a dremel tool with a motor and flexible shaft, which can be used with any sort of carving bit up to half inch). Finally I painted the lettering with OneShot sign paint, and stained the entire sign with 2 coats of OSMO UV Protection Oil.
To install the sign I drilled up into the bottom of the posts and hammered a piece of half inch rebar up 12″, leaving 18″ sticking out. Then I drilled holes in two flat rocks on which the posts would sit. The rocks keep the wood off the ground so it stays dryer, and also helps stabilize the sign. It makes for an easy install, but is stable, and easy to move if need be. This was a great project, and I am very happy with how the carving and whole sign turned out. Thanks to Jennifer and David for letting me run with the idea of embossing the broach design, it worked out really well!
